Archive for March, 2010

Picking “best” GPS products is difficult. Everyone has different needs and different tastes so what might be the best GPS for you might not be the same as for someone else. Still, some GPS models do stick out from the crowd due to a combination of features, style, and price. We’ve assembled a list here which is essentially the Editor’s Choice Best GPS devices. It is hard to go wrong with these models. The order of this list is simply more recent products first– it is not an absolute rank.

The TomTom 740 Live has hit the streets, addressing many issues we’ve had with previous TomTom devices. The location of the power cable, the “inactive” mount, and lack of full voice control were all previous limitations that have been dealt with. Biggest perhaps is that you are no longer forced to choose between two evils […]

Touch screen devices finally arrive for the masses with the Garmin Oregon series. The 400t comes loaded with Topo maps covering the USA (in 1:100,000 scale) and features an interface similar to the innovative Colorado series. The touch screen makes entering data and configuring the GPS a breeze.

But take note, the quality of the screen isn’t quite as good as other Garmin models, but that is a sacrifice you might be willing to make to get a touch screen. The screen sensitivity is great, even when covered with water and mud and with gloves on, however it is often difficult to read unless lighting conditions are perfect or it is relatively dark. Still, if you think using a GPS is as fun as the activity you are using it for, you will have fun tapping and scrolling along with the Oregon 400t.

Want (almost) all of the functions of a top of the line GPS at a middle of the road price? The Garmin Nuvi 265WT might be your dream GPS. Perhaps the biggest reason to consider the 265WT is the included lifetime traffic reporting system. While supported by occasional advertisements, the ads are fairly infrequent and unobtrusive.

You will also find a widescreen display, Text-to-Speech, and Bluetooth technology for hands-free calling. About the only advanced feature not included is multi-destination routing– but if you can live without that, this is a great GPS and a fantastic value when considering the lifetime traffic subscription.

Following the success of their first handheld/screen based GPS, the PN-20, DeLorme has now started to ship the PN-40. While much about the PN-40 is the same, what has changed is almost entirely for the better, and will leave PN-20 owners drooling for the new device. I’ve logged over a hundred hours of time with […]

One of the most common questions people ask me is “which GPS do you use?” I understand the rationale behind the question– he who knows a ton about GPS probably knows what GPS is “best”. But “best” means entirely different things to different people, and the “best” GPS for me probably isn’t the same for […]

New Global Positioning System (GPS) data released today by GPS-navigation provider TeleNav offers a number of insights into the behaviors–and preferences–of U.S. drivers.

The data, collected randomly from millions of U.S. TeleNav users throughout 2009, suggests American drivers are most frequently searching for big-box retailers like Walmart and Target, as well as a quick caffeine fix via Starbucks. And on a state-level, residents of Maryland are by far the most frequent users of GPS for navigation.

TeleNav customers employ the service via mobile applications for popular smartphones like Apple’s iPhone and Research In Motion’s (RIM) BlackBerry, as well as via standalone GPS navigation units, like TeleNav’s Shotgun.

The top “states” for GPS-based navigation in 2009 were Maryland, Washington, D.C., Massachusetts, North Carolina and California, according to TeleNav. In fact, Maryland residents used TeleNav for twice as many trips per month than the national average, according to the company.

TeleNav says its users conduct millions of GPS-based searches a month. The leading U.S. city-areas for GPS-searches were Los Angeles, Dallas/Forth Worth, Chicago, Houston and Atlanta.

And Americans are using TeleNav frequently to help find popular retailers; the most sought-after U.S. businesses in 2009 were Walmart, Starbucks, Target, Best Buy and Bank of America.

Additional noteworthy data includes the most frequently searched for types of food–Pizza in Chicago and Chinese in New York; along with the cities in which drivers most often used GPS to avoid traffic and locate the cheapest fuel–Los Angeles and Phoenix, respectively.